Frogs Pawn
by puppy dangerous
Summary: Stopping by for a bite of lunch is never normal when you're with The Doctor.


"Let me see her, first."

The voice cuts through the thick dark haze that seems to be filling her head. The Doctor, his voice raised, sounding demanding and cross and, perhaps, a bit frightened as well.

Rose tries to open her eyes. The lids feel thick and heavy, as does the rest of her body for that matter. She feels like she's in one of those dreams she used to have when she was in school- the kind where you hear the alarm blaring and struggle out of bed, each limb feeling like a bag of wet cement, and after what seems like hours of fighting you finally manage to stand up, only to realize that you are actually still under the covers with the buzzer still going and now you're going to be late.

Thick, slimy hands close around her arms and she is pulled to her feet. She smells something unpleasantly froggy.  
This must be what it feels like to be one of those wacky bird puppets you see sometimes at fairs, the ones who are made of cut pieces of plywood and thick string. She isn't decorated with brightly died feathers, though. In fact, she's pretty sure she looks awful

It is never good, she reflects as the hands yank her to a stop, when you wake up somewhere with no idea of where it is or how you got there.

Finally, standing there supported by the things on either side of her, she manages to wrestle her eyes open.

Her initial impression that she next to a couple of frogs turns out to be correct. Mostly, anyway. They are definitely frog like, with green slimy bodies, bulging amber eyes, and wide mouths. Pale, distended bellies hang over legs that seem to thin to support them. They have webbed feet and hands, both sets of which seem to be much to large for them. They look ungainly, slow, and not particularly smart.

The guards, she supposes that's what they are, have brought her into a large cave that is lit with something that glows from the ceiling and crevices in the walls. Before her is a large piece of what looks like mica. She can see the Doctor through it, though she is sure the image is bring transmitted from somewhere else.

"Ah." He looks pleased. "There you are."

"Doctor..." Rose says, hoping he can hear her. "What's going on?"

"Oh, bit of trouble. Nothing to worry about." The Doctor says brightly.

Nothing to worry about. Right. Well, that makes her feel better, Rose thinks sarcastically. She has no doubt he's going to get her out of this. He always does, after all.

"Show us the hostages." A voice demands from behind her.

Rose finds that she is feeling quite a bit better, maybe it's just from getting a look at the Doctor again. She turns her head and sees another of the frog men behind her.

This one looks so absurd she has to stifle a laugh. He is shaped like the other ones, but while they are naked he is wearing a red cape with white fur trim. A gold crown sits atop his flat head, and he is seated in a huge golden throne.

The Doctor leans down and fiddles with something she can't see. It looks like he is pulling the lid off of a container. A second later he stands up again, this time holding a large white bucket. He tilts this toward the screen. Rose thinks at first that it is full of clear plastic balls, about the size of croquette balls. A second later she realizes that they aren't balls at all. The bucket is full of gigantic frog eggs.

"We shall discuss a trade." the frog king croaks. "take the prisoner back to her cell."

The frog guards grab at her arms again. Rose tries to shake them off, but they are surprisingly fast and this time the grips are vice like.

"Doctor-" She says worriedly.

"'s alright." The Doctor says. "I'll see you in a bit."

He sounds perky and upbeat. She hates it when he talks like that. It means he's not sure of anything at all and is just trying to keep her from doing something stupid.

As though reading her thoughts, his expressive eyebrows arrange themselves in a warning look that clearly says she is to do whatever she is told.

Rose sighs and walks with them back to the cell. It's not to bad in here, she decides. She's been in much more uncomfortable places. Of course, it is just a hollowed out place in the rock with bars across the front, no toilet or even a pile of straw to sit down on.

The air is warm and damp, muggy, and her hair is soon sticking to her neck and cheeks. She fiddles around with it, trying to get it to stay up and back, but it's no use. She searches her pockets but they are empty.

She leans on the bars and looks out. Not much to see. The two guards have seated themselves at a stone table and are playing some game with chips of brightly colored rock.

"Excuse me." Rose says loudly. When she doesn't get a response, she tries again. "Excuse me? I was just wondering, could you tell me what's going on?"

Still nothing.

"Hey! Can you talk? Do you understand me?" Rose is starting to get annoyed. She hates being ignored.

"Quiet, prisoner" One of the frogs barks.

The frog turns his wide, ugly face to her, makes an unpleasant gurgling sound, then hawks a thick wad of goo at her.

Rose jumps back instinctively but is not fast enough and finds herself spattered with frog spit.

"Ugh." She waves her hands in front of her body, trying to wipe it off without touching the disgusting stuff.

Her skin tingles where the saliva has touched it. A second later her head starts to spin. She backs up and leans on the wall, then strips off her light jacket and uses the dry part to wipe her arms and hands.

She doesn't know how much longer it is, she looses track of time. She supposes the frog spit must have some sort of toxin in it. She didn't get enough of it on her to actually knock her out this time but everything seems to difficult to bother trying to sort out. It's easiest just to sit here against the wall and watch the green blurs of the poker playing frogs through unfocused eyes.

Finally, another frog man comes in and nudges the guards.

"She is to go to the Killing Feilds." He says. "That is where the trade shall take place."

Killing Feilds? That doesn't sound good.

The door swings open and one of the frog men lumbers in. He swings his arm at her in a "get up" gesture. Rose gets to her feet, leaning against the wall and still a little unsteady. She feels distracted, unable to make herself focus on anything, but she seems to be able to walk alright.

The cold, slimy hand closes around her again, this time on the bare skin of her arm. She yanks her arm away.

"I can walk myself, thank you." She says.

The frog gives her a look that might mean something, she can't tell. Then it turns around and walks out. Rose follows, feeling she's won a minor victory.

"Do not try to run." A voice gurgles from behind her.

The biggest and ugliest one she's seen yet, standing a good head taller than she and with thick warty skin. Thick slime drips down it's bloated belly. It's eyes are crusty around the rims, and there is a ring of yellow, hardened mucus around each small nostril. This frog is wearing a heavy red dress with yellow trim, a powdered wig, and a crown. The queen of the frogs.

"Why are you doing this?" Rose asks. "The Doctor's a good person. Whatever you need, I'm sure if you just explain it to him-"

The frog harrumphes, then spits a mouthful of yellowish spit onto the floor. "Yes, good. Of course." She gurgles again. "That is why he has kidnapped the entirety of the royal brood!"She is starting to swell, now, puffing up with anger.

Two of the guards rush in, muttering soothingly and telling her not to stress herself.

"Holding them hostage?" The frog burbles thickly. "Threatening to destroy my only legacy, and the future of this world?" She pauses to gulp breath. "You're Doctor is a terrorist!"

"No.." Rose says. "No, there's got to be some reason..." She stops.

The frog opens it's mouth to say something else, then begins to cough violently. Two other frogs, these ones look much younger, come rushing out from a tunnel somewhere behind Rose. They are wearing nurses uniforms.

Can this place get any weirder?

The nurse frogs take the queen by her skinny arms and lead her away, talking in the sort of voice one might use to calm an upset child.

The guards grab her arms.

"Come on, you." The front one grunts.

Rose walks between them.

They pass through what seems like miles of damp underground tunnels. The air is uncomfortably warm and humid. Every once in a while they pass a wide place in the tunnel where there are round doorways build into the wall. When they walk past frog heads poke out to watch them. At first these are large, some of them have glass or wood doors. Eventually they turn into just rough holes dug into the earth. The tunnel is getting less well kept as well, and there are puddles of water on the floor.

The first frog walks up a side tunnel with a sharp incline, then unlocks and opens a door.

They step out into the edge of a forest with trees so tall Rose can't see anything but the lowest branches. There is a grove of these surrounding them, then a short patch of thick grass that comes up to her waist. After this she can see some large mud flats, and past these a long stretch of dry, cracked ground. It looks like this used to be a pond. There are the carcases of several of the huge trees still here, but huge holes have formed in the ground that must have let the water slip away. Way far away she can see more trees.

The frogs look at each other, then start to walk again. Rose follows them down the thin path through the grass and a dry spot between two large muddy areas.

The second they get out of the shade of the trees, Rose understands why they call this the killing fields. The sun is brutal. The frogs already look uncomfortable. The dead trees offer almost no shade. Occasionally they pass a large deep hole, and through it she thinks she can hear ocean waves. The heat makes the air shimmer, and at first they all think that it's another mirage. A shadow far away across the barren land.

The frogs trudge beside her. Rose's shirt is soaked with sweat and her jeans feel like they weigh ten pounds. She's starting to wish they had kept her in the cell.

Then the mirage before her steadies and settles, and relief explodes inside her. The TARDIS. The Doctor is sitting in a lawn chair, a large striped beach umbrella stuck into the dirt and shading him. He has a large reflective tanning sheet held over his chest, shining light onto his face. Not that the sun is doing any good, sine he's still wearing his suit. It looks like he's fallen asleep.

"We have come to trade." One of the frogs says thickly.

The Doctor jumps slightly and opens his eyes. "Oh, right. Nice of you to drop by."

Rose rolls her eyes. She's hot and tired and just wants to get inside where it's cool. Then she's going to make him tell her what's going on.

"No games, timelord." The other frog warns.

"Wouldn't dream of it." The Doctor says.

He opens the door and puts an arm inside the TARDIS. When he steps away he has a white five gallon bucket. He puts it on the ground and pulls the lid up. Slimy, damp frog eggs.

"Give them to us." The guard says.

"Uh-un. Mine first." He says. He finally looks at Rose.

The frogs look at each other Then one of them pushes her forward. Rose stumbles and almost falls, but throws herself in the direction of the Doctor.

"Doc-" Rose starts.

"Nice to see you to. Get inside." The Doctor mumbles quickly.

Rose knows that look and that tone of voice. He hasn't closed the door properly and she knocks it open with one foot and steps inside.

The Doctor takes a few steps back, watching the frogs. Then he leaps into the TARDIS, closes the doors, and starts yanking levers.  
Rose struggles to stay upright, fails, and falls with a grunt.

"Would somebody mind telling me what in the hell's going on?" She asks the world at large. "What were you doing with those frog eggs?"

"I should think that much was obvious." The Doctor says without bothering to glance over at her.

"But why-?" Rose finds she doesn't know what she wants to ask.

She thinks back. What's the last thing she remembers? They had stopped here, right. And opened the door.

She'd seen trees, lots of huge trees. Like the ones she'd walked through to the Killing Feilds. They're arranged like mangroves, she remembers, but on top of the roots, above the water, are little pallets of earth. Islands floating above the water on thick brown pillars.

The Doctor had been distracted. He'd closed the door and it had come open again, and he had been looking at the latch and saying it had been getting worse lately and he really should get around to fixing it.

Then he looked up and the Doctor had gotten one of those looks that she knows mean something is really, really wrong. The look that means a place doesn't look the way it should.

He'd said something about there not being any houses. He'd been right, of course, there weren't anything on the islands but a few lumps that she thought might have been ancient ruins of houses grown over with hundreds of years of moss.

Then...then a door had opened out of the mud and...no, nothing after that. Not until she woke up.

"But-" She says.

"Go clean up. We're almost there." He says suddenly.

"Almost where?" Rose asks.

"You'll see." He makes shooing motions at her.

Shaking her head, Rose walks out of the control room.

The Doctor pretends to be absorbed in the controls of his TARDIS until he's sure she's gone, then he breaths a deep sigh of relief. He was sure he'd lost her that time, when those frog creatures had spit on her and then dragged her into their tunnels. They'd gone for him, too, but he's nothing if not a quick thinker. He'd seen the eggs in the small, carefully made hole and realized they'd stumbled into a nursery for these things. So he'd done the only logical thing and taken the eggs hostage.

It had all been because of a comment Rose had made.

Something about seafood, and it had brought this place to mind for some reason. Balaxxacontilius 9, the best place to get lunch in the galaxy. A touristy stort of spot, a series of little hamlets, each build on one of those pancakes of earth. You'd get from one to the other by riding on the backs of gigantic four legged egrets, forty feet high each of them and covered with skin like an elephants.

At least, on one side of the small planet.

He'd always heard you should never go to the wrong side of Balazzacontilius 9, but never actually knew why. Well, that solves that mystery, anyway.

Rose reappears, her hair still wet.

When he opens the door she is looking back out at the trees.

"Um, Doctor..." She says.

He steps past her and looks around, then smiles broadly. "Right, I forgot that part. Other side of the planet."

Rose walks out, too. They're looking out over a shallow sea.

The Doctor nods his head for her to turn around.

She does.

The trees have been tamed into gigantic bonsai buildings of living plant. A large bright orange lizard is scuttling along a stone road, double sacks of what look like newspapers strapped to its back. As she thinks this someone steps out from a doorway and takes one of the papers, then drops a coin into a smaller pouch.

"This is more like it." The Doctor says brightly, then he offers her his arm. "You still hungry?"

Rose finds that she is. She shakes her head reprovingly, but she's smiling and she takes the arm.

"I hear they have these frog legs here, absolutely gigantic..." He says.

Rose jabs him in the ribs with her elbow.

The TARDIS sits by the edge of the island, unnoticed. Unnoticed, that is, by everybody but a small creature that looks like a bald cross between a cat and a monkey, it's skin mottled brown and green. As it approaches the strange object it's skin runs through cycles of color that match it's emotions. Reds, yellows, and bright greens.

The animal sniffs curiously at the door. It pushes hard with it's nose, then slides one thin hand into a small opening. After a second of experimenting it finds that it can open the door.

It slips inside, the door closes behind it.

If someone were standing very near to the door of this strange blue box inexplicably sitting at the edge of the island, they would be able to hear very faint crashes and bangs from somewhere that sounds very, very far away.

The sounds fade, and all is quiet for slightly over an hour, at which point the Doctor and Rose return.

"No, you really don't want to know whats in them." The Doctor is insisting.

He tries to unlock the door, only to find that it is still open.

"I have got to fix this thing." He mutters to himself, then pushes the door open.

Everything inside seems quiet and normal.

The Doctor sets about pulling levers and pushing buttons. Rose always thinks of it as making love to his machine.

The time rotor starts running, the light plunges up and down, the distinctive sound of an engine capable of traveling not only through space but time as well fills the air.

"So, were are we going now?" Rose asks.  
The Doctor opens his mouth to reply, but before he can the TARDIS rocks suddenly and violently. He and Rose both stumble. Sparks fly. Rose half falls, half flings herself to the floor. The engine sounds funny, choked, as though it's struggling. Then it dies and they are left in a terrible silence.

The Doctor gets to his feet first and looks around. The air is filled with thin acrid white smoke. Sparks erupt from a panel which is still smoking. The air smells like ozone and burnt rubber.  
He finds Rose on the other side of the console, sitting on the ground and rubbing her elbow. He offers her his hands. Rose takes them and is pulled to her feet.

The TARDIS shudders again, tilts, then slides. The Doctor yelps and braces himself on the console with one hand, keeping hold of Rose with the other. The ship clunks down what feels like a short incline, then bounces down a short way and stops. The lights flicker.

"I think we've settled." The Doctor says. "You alright?"

Rose looks up, meaning to tell him that she's fine except she's been kidnapped, spit on by frogs, ransomed for frog eggs, and now topped it off with a crash yes, and all she wanted in the first place was to run out and get something to eat. She opens her mouth to say it, but the words die in her throat.

He's still got an arm around her and she's standing a little to close for casual comfort, and looking up this way she's just inches from his face. He moves his head and for a second-a wonderful terrible second that feels like her insides are doing what the TARDIS just did- she thinks he's going to kiss her.

Then he leans back, just a little, and it's gone.

"Yeah." She says, stepping back herself and tucking the hair back behind her left ear. "I'm fine. But...where are we?"

"Dunno."He arches his eyebrows and shrugs. "One way to find out."

Rose is right behind him when he pulls open the door, and they both step out into the light.


End file.
